Roller felting machine



May 9, 1950 M. cAssE:

ROLLER FELTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed. May 8, 1946 .4 3 AW 4 fir, f mu l l 3 8 M. CM, Q 5

May 9 195G M. CASSE ROLLER FELTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 8, 1946 Ma 9,, 1950 M, CASSE 2,506,855

ROLLER FELTING MACHINE Filed May 8, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 9, 1950 M, ASSE 2,506,855

ROLLER FELTING MACHINE Filed May 8, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 y 1950 M. CASSE ROLLER FELTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 8, 1946 Patented May 9, 1950 Application May 8, 1946, SerialNo. 668,040 In France *Anril v14, 1944 or Section 1, Public Law 690,August 8,1946

Patent expires April l l, 1964 4- Claims;

My invention relatesv to :a felting machine :of

the ,roller'type for milling feltand particularly hoods-- for: the hat-manufacturing" industry, comprising'two superposed; rows of. rollers; wherein-eachs roller of at least one-:row :hasimpartecl to" it," in: addition. to: the 1: normal continuous rotary motion, a. reciprocating,motioniparallel' toits' axis of :jrotation and amoscillat'ory motionabout; its

axis, 'as disclosed in-applicantfs prior specification.

My invention is more specifically concerned with machines of theutypeincwhichtthe axial reciprocating motion? of the rollers: of 2 the, same,-

Fig; leis-atvertical section on line l -ls'of:

Fig; 1;.

Fig.2 2" is :a fragmentary vertical section, along the line Z-ZsofFig: 4-of1a modification of the invention; in whichthe axial and" circumferential oscillations are out ofphaseby 90;'

Fig-3 is afragmentary section on a larger scalealong the line 3+-3 of Fig. 2; and- Fig. Ilsa-horizontal section alongthe line 4-4 ofFig. 2.

Referring to Fig.- 1, I havedenoted'loy l a series offlanged connectors, towhich are-adapted to be secured. the rollers .(notshown); belonging to'one IOW? of rollers of .thefelting machine, for-example the: upper row;v Each" flanged. connector has a tubular shank keyed at 2 to the inner-end of a shaft 3; which is coaxial with the-roller and is rigidly SGOUIBd'ltO'flEbHSh' 4,: which isJacla-ptedto rotate" and slide in v a tubular; shaft r 5 rotatably mountedinta-bearing-s in which it.,=is held in axial position by suitable shoulders 5 5%". Sleeve '5 is enlarged at one :end to:.provide a cylindrical cavity 6; the"internal;cylindricalwall of which is formed with; helical ,threads or flutes 1, engaging: corresponding threads, or flutes: 8 of a screw 9 which is secured to or integral. with'zbush 4:

andjs housed; in said; cavity; The outer wall of: the enlarged :end of; tubular shaft 5is formed: withlhelical gear teeth l6 meshing with-a worm i6 cut at the peripheryofa shaft: lfllwhichds common to the various 11011315 and; is-driven ,in- 'continuous'manner by anysuitable conventional; prime; mover; Reference numeral IQ denotesradial lubricating ducts; for,'carrying'lubricant" to the outer innergearteeth and threads:v

At its outerend, shaft 13'is formed, witha spherical cup H; housed in a-aspherical recess. l2 1 of? connecting rod 13," which is: mounted-'- by meansof "antiiriction bearings H :onan-eccem A trio journal liefa: drivingshaft-ifi; which-is: common to thevarious rollers of "thesame row' andisdriven in rotation by means of a' pulley H.

The: successive journals: I-Eareoffset by 180, for balancing purposes;- Shaft: H5 is: supported on the frame is of the machinewby meansrofbear= ings' is located at the-ends ofthe shaft and between eccen-tric journa-ls 1-5;-

It will beunderstoodithat; in operation: three distinct motions are imparted to each roller through shaft 3,1 viz;

A continuous; rotary motion transmitted from: shaftj-lll rthrough pinions to and shafts 5;

A reciprocating axial motion transmitted from, eccentric journall5--'di'rectly to shaft 3;-

A circular oscillatory motion which is produced:

,.by the reciprocation, ofshaft 3' along tubular shaft 5.1 In-thisaxial movement; the-internal threads 1 ofvshaft 5 coact with the external-.:, threads of shaft? after the mannerof a nut; along a screw, and as screw 9'is reciprocated un-v der the action of eccentric journal lithrough-the kind; of balleand socket joint-E I, I2, I3,whi;le the nut 6,1, is stationary in the axial direction, said 1 nut-is.--caused tooscillate' about the axisof rotation of shaft 3; and this oscillatory motioncom- :binesswith the continuous rotary motion transmitted: through pinion Ills It will :beaseen that in this. embodiment ofthee invention,- the axial reciprocation: and the circumferential oscillation transmitted to a given roller; arein phase; It will alsozbe noted that'thesemovements are controlled by the same shaft IS; without any transmission, thus simplifying the; construction; considerably and affording muchv higher operative speeds,

In the embodimentshoWn:in;Figs.-'2to 4., which" isrso devisedzthatthe reciprocation andoscillationi of 'the rollersearerout,of phase, the rollersjof one row aiie;still adapted'to' be connected with a; respective fiangedconnector l. keyedltosasshaft extending-through ahush tcrotatableand axially;

movable in a tubular shaft formed with a pinion l0. Shaft l6, connecting rod 13 and the balland-socket connections I I are similar to the corresponding parts of the previous embodiment. In this modification, however, the helical threads 1-8 are replaced by rectilinear flutes 2B, which are cut in the outer end of bush 4 and are parallel to the axis thereof and by corresponding rectilinear flutes 2| formed in the inner wall of the cavity 5 of shaft 5, whereby shaft 3 and bush 4 are adapted to slide without rotating along tubular shaft 5.

22 denotes a worm similar to worm "I and meshing with pinion l0. Said worm is splined at 23 on a driving shaft 24, which is parallel with shaft 16 and is common to all the rollers of the same row. Said worm 22 is enclosed and abuts at both its ends in a rectangular block 25, which is guided on three of its faces 26, 21 and 28 in the frame I8 of the machine, but is free to slide along said faces, together with worm 22, in a direction parallel to the axis of shaft 24.

The fourth exposed face 29 of block 25 is formed with oblique straight flutes 3|] (the obliquity appearing in Fig. 2), engaging corresponding oblique flutes 3| cut in the face 32 of a second rectangular block 33, which is also guided on three of its faces, and is free to slide along these faces in a direction at right angles to the axis of the shaft 34. In Fig. 2, block 25 can move horizontally in the plane of the figure, while block 33 (not shown in this figure), can move vertically in the same plane. In Fig. 3, block 25 is contrived to move back and forth with respect to the plane of the figure, while block 33 is contrived to move vertically in said plane. In Fig. 4, block 25 moves horizontally in the plane of the figure, while block 33 moves back and forth with respect to the plane of the figure.

Block 33 is connected. by a pin 34 and two links 35 ending in circular collars 35 to connecting rod I3, on either side of the ball-and-socket connection H and links 35 are so arranged that their axis, in their middle position, is substantially at right angles with the axis of shaft 3. The operation of journal I5, links 35, pin 34 and block 33 is quite similar to the operation of a piston and a crank and connecting rod conventional device.

The machine operates as follows:

Shaft '24, rotated at a constant speed by any suitable prime mover, transmits its motion to each roller through splines 23, worm 22, pinion I0, hollow shaft 5, flutes 20, bush 4, shaft 3 and flanged connectors I.

An axial reciprocation is simultaneously imparted to the rollers, as in the case of Fig. 1, through shaft I6 and shaft 3, which latter slides along shaft 5 with which it is locked in rotation.

Moreover, the rotation of shaft 16, operatively connected by a crank and rod connection 35 with block 33, imparts to block 33 a rectilinear reciprocation in a vertical direction, along the guiding surfaces thereof. Due to the engagement of the oblique flutes 30-3l of blocks 33 and 25 and to the contrivance imposed by the guiding surfaces of block 25, the latter is caused to execute a rectilinear horizontal reciprocation, at right angles to the plane of Fig. 3. Worm 22, which is locked axially with block 25, is carried along therewith in its reciprocating motion and acts on pinion III as would do a rack executing a rectilinear reciprocating motion at right angles to the plane of Fig. 3. This motion imparts to pinion In a, circumferential oscillatory motion which 4 combines with the continuous rotary motion also transmitted by worm 22 to pinion I0.

Worm 22 therefore performs a dual function: on the one hand it transmits its continuous rotary motion to pinion l0, and on the other hand, owing to the straight reciprocating motion which is given to it by block 25, it transmits an oscillatory motion to pinion [0. Owing to the fact that the links 35 are offset by relatively to shaft 3, the two oscillatory movements are out of phase, so that when the speed of the one passes through zero upon changing its direction, the speed of the other one is a maximum.

It will be seen that owing to this construction, the two oscillatory movements are derived from one and the same shaft IS, without the intermediary of complicated gearing, the whole device forming a compact unit adjacent said shaft l6. In both embodiments of the invention, due to the arrangement of flutes I, 8 or 30, 3 I, the reciprocation of the element (nut 9 in Fig. 1, connecting rod :3 in Fig. 4) of the mechanism for converting the eccentric rotation of journal [5 into an axial reciprocation of shaft 3, a periodically reversed abaxial reaction is generated in said interengaging flutes by the reciprocation of said element, which causes a rotary oscillation of gears l0.

Of course, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments illustrated and described which have only been chosen by way of example.

I claim:

1. In a roller felting machine, a number of aligned roller actuating members, a rotary shaft having eccentric journals, a mechanism for converting the eccentric rotation of said journals into an axial reciprocation of said roller actuating members, a gear slidably arranged upon each of said roller actuating members and rotatable therewith, rotation control means in mesh with said gears for rotating said roller actuating members, and means including elongated interengaging flutes for operatively connecting a reciprocating element of said mechanism with said gears.

2. A roller felting machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotation control means for each roller actuating member includes a worm engaging the related gear.

3. In a roller felting machine, a number of aligned roller actuating members, a rotary shaft having eccentric journals, a mechanism for converting the eccentric rotation of said journals into an axial reciprocation of said roller actuating members, a gear slidably arranged upon each of said roller actuating members and rotatable therewith, rotation control means, in mesh with said gears, for rotating said roller actuating members, and elongated helical interengaging flutes for operatively connecting a reciprocating element of said mechanism with a coaxial and interfitting portion integral with said gear, whereby the periodically reversed tangential reaction generated in said interengaging helical flutes by the reciprocation of said element causes a rotary oscillation of said gears, in phase with said axial reciprocation.

4. In a roller felting machine, a number of aligned roller actuating members, a rotary shaft having two sets of eccentric journals, the eccentricity of one set being at 90 with respect to the eccentricity of the other set, a mechanism for converting the eccentric rotation of one set of eccentric journals into an axial reciprocation of said roller actuating members, a gear splined upon each of said roller actuating members, an actuating shaft, worms splined upon said shaft and 5 6 respectively engaging said gears for rotating said roller actuating members, slidable blocks engag- REFERENCES CITED I jng the respective worms means for guiding each The following references 3J8 Of record In the slidable block in a direction parallel with said me of this Patent! actuating shaft, actuating blocks having oblique 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS flutes engaging corresponding flutes of the respective slidable blocks, means for guiding each gig 53 actuating block in a direction at right angles with 1984'700 Reynolds Dec 1934 said actuating shaft and a mechanism for con- 1984701 Reynolds 1934 verting the eccentric rotation of the other set of lo 2093709 Cass 1937 eccentric members into a reciprocating motion 2,169,372 pecker 15' 1939 of said actuating blocks along their respective guiding means.

MARCEL CASSE. 

